Mariano Fortuny Textile, ca. 1920
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GUEST:
As long as I remember, this was hanging in my grandfather's house. He was born in the late 1800s, and he died in the 1950s.
APPRAISER:
And you remember it hanging.
GUEST:
I remember it hanging. And now this has been hanging in my mother's house. After my grandfather died, she inherited it. So I've looked at it for many years of my life.
APPRAISER:
Well, this kind of design that you're looking at, with the tulip and these exotically shaped leaves, are a design that is a revival of Renaissance and Ottoman design that was popular at the end of the 19th century. And the person who probably produced the most interesting textiles of this kind of revival was Mariano Fortuny. And this is a Fortuny. And as you can see, this is made of three pieces that are joined together by a seam, and then it has this border that goes along the edge.
GUEST:
My grandfather traveled all over the world, so he must have bought it at some point.
APPRAISER:
He could have gotten it in Italy, where Fortuny had several galleries, or he could have gotten it in New York, where he also had a gallery, which, interestingly enough, still exists and still sells this kind of stenciled cotton. What distinguishes this is that this narrow width is early. It indicates that it was made probably in the 1920s.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
And if you look at it, it's kind of muddy over here, and then it's rather refined here and muddy here. So it was made by the yard, and sometimes the printing was clear, and sometimes not. You look at it and you realize that it's not a manufactured piece as such. I opened it up a bit to see if I could find his name in the selvedge, and I didn't open it up enough to see. If it has the name, it's worth a little bit more, but I could guarantee you that it is Fortuny. And I'd say that conservatively it's worth $2,500, and it could well be worth more.
GUEST:
Wow. That's a surprise.
APPRAISER:
So you going to hang it up when you take it home?
GUEST:
Boy, yeah.
APPRAISER:
Or are you going to put it in a box and store it carefully?
GUEST:
No, I want to look at it and enjoy it.
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